Hearing augmentation device

ABSTRACT

A hearing augmentation device including an inverted, substantially U-shaped headband section adapted to partially encircle a person&#39;&#39;s head sufficiently snugly to be clamped thereto; the headband section extending across the top of the head of a person wearing the device and terminating adjacent each of such a wearer&#39;&#39;s ears. A bone contact section is interconnected with each terminus of the headband section; each bone contact section being adapted to press against the bony cage above and behind an ear of the wearer of the device through the skin only thinly covering the bone. Each bone contact section carries a sound wave receptor element arranged to extend outwardly from the adjacent side of the head of the wearer of the device behind the adjacent ear; each sound wave receptor element deflecting sound waves into the wearer&#39;&#39;s adjacent ear and also vibrating in response thereto to induce vibrations in the adjacent bone contact section and therefore in the bony cage above and behind the wearer&#39;&#39;s adjacent ear interpretable as audible signals.

United States Patent Turner [54] HEARING AUGMENTATION DEVICE [72]Inventor: William A. Turner, 205 Sycamore Road,

Franklin, Va. 23851 22 Filed: Mans, 1971 211 Appl.No.: 121,309

Primary Examiner-Stephen J. Tomsky [151 3,658,150 1 Apr. 25, 1972Attorney-J. Maxwell Carson, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT A hearing augmentation device including an inverted,substantially U-shaped headband section adapted to partially encircle apersons head sufficiently snugly to be clamped thereto; the headbandsection extending across the top of the head of a person wearing thedevice and terminating adjacent each of such a wearers ears. A bonecontact section is interconnected with each terminus of the headbandsection; each bone contact section being adapted to press against thebony cage above and behind an ear of the wearer of the device throughthe skin only thinly covering the bone. Each bone contact sectioncarries a sound wave receptor element arranged to extend outwardly fromthe adjacent side of the head of the wearer of the device behind theadjacent ear; each sound wave receptor element deflecting sound wavesinto the wearers adjacent ear and also vibrating in response thereto toinduce vibrations in the adjacent bone contact section and therefore inthe bony cage above and behind the wearers adjacent ear interpretable asaudible signals.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing F igtres PATENTEDAPRZS m2 3,658,150

FIG. 5

INVENTOR. WLLIAM A. TURNER ATTORNEY HEARING AUGMENTATION DEVICE Thisinvention relates generally to a hearing augmentation device, and morespecifically to a device of this type mountable on the human head andincluding elements adapted to deflect audible signals into the ears aswell as to vibrate in response thereto and induce vibrations in the bonycage adjacent each of the ears interpretable as audible signals.

Under certain circumstances, a person whose sense of hearing is in noway impaired, and who therefore could not be expected to own any of thepresently widely commercially available and relatively expensiveelectrically energized hearing aid devices or the like, would find theuse of a simple, inexpensive and readily portable device for enhancingthe sense of hearing to be quite beneficial. Such a person, for example,could be a hunter who through the use of such a device would be able todetect sounds made by such agile and relatively quiet moving game asdeer, squirrels, or turkeys which otherwise would be inaudible to him;or he might be a birdwatcher enabled by the use of such a device todistinguish between the calls of the various birds at a distance.Security guards and watchmen, obviously, would be enabled to moreeffectively perform their duties if provided with such a device, andeven householders who merely desire to watch a television program withthe sound turned quite low to avoid disturbing other members of thehousehold who may have retired for the night would find it possible toclearly hear the audio portion of the program under such conditionsthrough the use of such a device. The hearing augmentation deviceforming the subject matter of the present application would be readilyuseable by such persons as those hereinbefore set forth for theattainment of the foregoing advantageous results, and is considered tofill a need not heretofore satisfied by any prior art in this field.

Accordingly, an object of the instant invention is the provision of asimple, inexpensive, and readily portable hearing augmentation device.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a simple andinexpensive device readily mountable on a persons head operable toaugment the sense of hearing of the wearer.

According to the instant invention, the foregoing and other objects areobtained by providing a device including a resilient headband section ofinverted substantially U-shaped form adapted to comfortably partiallyencircle a persons head sufficiently snugly to be clamped thereto; suchresilient headband section extending across the top of the wearers headand terminating adjacent an upper portion of each of the wearers ears.The device further includes a substantially L-shaped bone contactsection interconnected with each terminus of the headband section eachhaving a shorter leg pressing against the skin of the person wearing thedevice only thinly covering the skull just above the adjacent ear andalso having a longer leg pressing against the skin only thinly coveringthe skull behind the adjacent ear. The longer leg of each bone contactsection of the device carries a somewhat musselshell-shaped sound wavereceptor element arranged to extend outwardly from the adjacent side ofthe head behind the adjacent ear of the person wearing the device; eachsound wave receptor element deflecting sound waves into the adjacent earand also vibrating in response to impinging sound waves to inducevibrations in the adjacent bone contact section which in turn inducesvibrations in the adjacent bony cage surrounding the ear interpretableas audible signals.

A more complete appreciation of the invention and many attendantadvantages thereof will be readily apparent as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the hearing augmentation deviceacc-ording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view thereof, partially in section, taken looking upwardlyalong the line 2 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view thereof;

FIG. 4 is an elevational view thereof, partially in section, taken onthe line 4 4 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a pictorial representation thereof on a reduced scale asmounted for utilization on the head of a user thereof.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, wherein like referencenumerals designate the same or identical parts throughout the severalviews, and more specifically to FIGS. 1 4, there is shown a hearingaugmentation device, generally designated by the reference numeral 11.The device 11 includes a headband section 12 formed of a somewhatresilient material such as a suitable plastic and of operationallyinverted, substantially U-shaped configuration externally provided witha reinforcing or strengthening rib 13 extending substantially along theentire length thereof. The headband section 12 of the device 11,inasmuch as human heads occur in a variety of shapes and sizes, may alsobe provided in a plurality of different shapes and sizes each of whichmay be adapted to fit any one of a range of head shapes and sizessufficiently snugly to be thereby clamped thereto. When the headbandsection 12 is snugly mounted on a persons head as contemplated herein toextend across the top of the wearer's head and terminate adjacent anupper portion of each of the wearers ears the ensuing distortion thereofwill produce stresses therein which could be expected to be a maximum atthe longitudinal center thereof and which could be expected to becomeprogressively smaller towards each terminus thereof. Accordingly, thewidth of the headband section 12 is a maximum at the longitudinal centerthereof; the width of headband section 12 tapering therefrom towards aminimum at each terminus thereof. The headband section 12 so formedwould be somewhat more uniformly stressed than would be the case if itwere provided with a uniform cross-sectional area throughout the lengththereof. The rib l3 externally provided on the headband section 12likewise is of maximum cross sectional area at the longitudinal centerof the headband section 12 for the same reason; the rib I3 tapering fromthis point and becoming progressively smaller towards a point adjacenteach terminus ofthe headband section 12.

The device ll further includes a substantially L-shaped bone contactsection preferably integrally interconnected with each terminus of theheadband section I2 thereof. Each of the bone contact sections of thedevice I1 includes a shorter leg I4 operationally extendingsubstantially horizontally and rear wardly from the adjacent terminus ofthe headband section 12; the shorter leg 14 of each bone contact sectionof the device 11 being adapted to press relatively tightly against theskin only thinly covering the skull of the wearer of the device 11 justabove the wearers adjacent ear. Each of the bone contact sections of thedevice 11 further includes a longer leg 15 integrally interconnectedwith the operationally rearmost extremity of the shorter leg 14 thereofand operationally extending downwardly therefrom; the longer leg 15 ofeach bone contact section of the device 11 being adapted to pressrelatively tightly against the skin only thinly covering the skull ofthe wearer of the device 11 just behind the wearers adjacent ear.

The device 11 also includes a sound wave receptor element 16 integrallyinterconnected with and carried by the longer leg 15 of each of the bonecontact sections thereof. Each of the sound wave receptor elements 16 issubstantially oval in frontal elevation, as shown in FIG. I, and is ofsubstantially uniform thickness; the sound wave receptor elements 16each having a concave operationally frontally facing surface and havinga correspondingly convex operationally rearwardly facing surface. Theconcavity of the operationally frontally facing surface of each of thesound wave receptor elements 16 is a maximum fairly closely adjacent theline of juncture of the same with the longer leg 15 of the adjacent bonecontact section of the device 11. Each of the sound wave receptorelements 16 of the device 11 preferably measures about 6 inches inheight by about 3 inches in width.

As indicated hereinbefore, the entire device 11 may be formed of asomewhat resilient and suitable plastic material, with the bone contactsections thereof being integrally interconnected with the headbandsection 12 thereof, and with each sound wave receptor element 16 thereofbeing integrally interconnected with the adjacent bone contact sectionthereof. Alternatively, however, the headband section 12 of the device11 could be formed of a suitably resilient metal, and separately formedbone contact sections of the device 11 could be connected to such aheadband section 12 thereof by means of such suitable conventionalfasteners as rivets or the like, although in such a case each of thebone contact sections of the device 11 and the sound wave receptorelement 16 carried thereby should still be integrally formed of asuitable plastic material to secure the most advantageous results.

In use, the device 11 is mounted on a person's head in the mannerhereinbefore described and as illustrated in FIG. of the drawing.Inasmuch as the external or auricle portion of the human ear, even whenunusually generously proportioned, is simply too small to deflect soundwaves having wave lengths in all but a small portion of the humanaudibility range into the inner car, while the sound wave receptorelements 16 of the device 11 sized and shaped as hereinbefore set forthare capable of deflecting sound waves having wave lengths extendingthroughout practically the entire human audibility range into the innerear, it will be apparent that the hearing augmentation device accordingto the present invention may greatly enhance the sense of hearing of auser thereof. In addition to deflecting sound waves into the inner earthe sound wave receptor elements 16 of the device 11 also vibrate inresponse thereto and induce vibrations in the bone contact sections ofthe device 11 as hereinbefore set forth. The bone contact sections ofthe device 11 function similarly to the bone conduction receiverelements of certain conventional electrically energized hearing aids tovibrate the bones of the skull to stimulate the hearing mechanism; thetheory of such stimulation of the hearing mechanism being described insuch detail in many widely circulated works of general reference as toobviate the necessity ofany further description herein.

Obviously, other modifications and variations of the instant inventionare possible in the light of the foregoing teachings. it is therefore tobe understood that within the scope of the appended claims the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

Iclaim: l. A hearing augmentation device, comprising: means adapted toat least partially snugly encircle the head of a human being to bethereby clamped thereto; at least a first bone contact section carriedby said means adapted to at least partially encircle the head of a humanbeing, said bone contact section being adapted to press relativelytightly against the skin only thinly covering the skull of said humanbeing adjacent an ear of said human being; and

at least a first sound wave receptor element carried by said bonecontact section to extend substantially outwardly from the head of saidhuman being adjacent said ear of said human being, said sound wavereceptor element being sized and shaped to deflect sound waves into saidear of said human being and being adapted to vibrate in response to theimpingement of said sound waves thereon to induce vibrations in saidbone contact section which in turn vibrate the bone of the skulladjacent said ear of said human being.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said bone contact section issubstantially L-shaped and includes a shorter leg operativelypositionable above said ear of said human being as well as a longer legoperatively positionable behind said ear of said human being, saidlonger leg of said bone contact section carrying the sound wave receptorelement.

3. The device according to claim 2, wherein said means adapted to atleast partially encircle the head of said human being is a substantiallyU-shaped headband section having a terminus positionable adjacent saidear of said human being.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein a second bone contactsection is further carried by said means adapted to at least partiallyencircle the head of a human being, said second bone contact sectionbein adapted to press relativel tightly against the skin only thrn ycovering the skull of sat human being adjacent the other ear of saidhuman being, and wherein a second sound wave receptor element is carriedby said second bone contact section to extend substantially outwardlyfrom the head of said human being adjacent said other ear of said humanbeing, said second sound wave receptor element being sized and shaped todeflect sound waves into said other car of said human being and beingadapted to vibrate in response to the impingement of said sound wavesthereon to induce vibrations in said second bone contact section whichin turn vibrate the bone of the skull adjacent said other car of saidhuman being.

5. The device according to claim 4, wherein said second bone contactsection is substantially L-shaped and includes a shorter leg operativelypositionable above said other car of said human being as well as alonger leg operatively positionable behind said other car of said humanbeing, said longer leg of said second bone contact section carrying saidsecond sound wave receptor element.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein said means adapted to atleast partially encircle the head of said human being is a substantiallyU-shaped headband section terminating adjacent each of the ears of saidhuman being.

1. A hearing augmentation device, comprising: means adapted to at leastpartially snugly encircle the head of a human being to be therebyclamped thereto; at least a first bone contact section carried by saidmeans adapted to at least partially encircle the head of a human being,said bone contact section being adapted to press relatively tightlyagainst the skin only thinly covering the skull of said human beingadjacent an ear of said human being; and at least a first sound wavereceptor element carried by said bone contact section to extendsubstantially outwardly from the head of said human being adjacent saidear of said human being, said sound wave receptor element being sizedand shaped to deflect sound waves into said ear of said human being andbeing adapted to vibrate in response to the impingement of said soundwaves thereon to induce vibrations in said bone contact section which inturn vibrate the bone of the skull adjacent said ear of said humanbeing.
 2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said bone contactsection is substantially L-shaped and includes a shorter leg operativelypositionable above said ear of said human being as well as a longer legoperatively positionable behind said ear of said human being, saidlonger leg of said bone contact section carrying the sound wave receptorelement.
 3. The device according to claim 2, wherein said means adaptedto at least partially encircle the head of said human being is asubstantially U-shaped headband section having a terminus positionableadjacent said ear of said human being.
 4. The device according to claim1, wherein a second bone contact section is further carried by saidmeans adapted to at least partially encircle the head of a human being,said second bone contact section being adapted to press relativelytightly against the skin only thinly covering the skull of said humanbeing adjacent the other ear of said human being, and wherein a secondsound wave receptor element is carried by said second bone contactsection to extend substantially outwardly from the head of said humanbeing adjacent said other ear of said human being, said second soundwave receptor element being sized and shaped to deflect sound waves intosaid other ear of said human being and being adapted to vibrate inresponse to the impingement of said sound waves thereon to inducevibrations in said second bone contact section which in turn vibrate thebone of the skull adjacent said other ear of said human being.
 5. Thedevice according to claim 4, wherein said second bone contact section issubstantially L-shaped and includes a shorter leg operativelypositionable above said other ear of said human being as well as alonger leg operatively positionable behind said other ear of said humanbeing, said longer leg of said second bone contact section carrying saidsecond sound wave receptor element.
 6. The device according to claim 5,wherein said means adapted to at least partially encircle the head ofsaid human being is a substantially U-shaped headband sectionterminating adjacent each of the ears of said human being.